Recommendation 17

The Agency is already seeing the impacts of climate change through the increasing strain on existing flood defences. In March 2020, the government gave the Agency £120 million to repair the defences damaged in the 2019–20 winter floods. At that time, the 12 https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/4520/documents/45720/default/ 13 C&AG’s Report, para 2.19 14 Q 74 15 Q 68–69 16 Q 69, 71–72 17 Q 27, 70 12 Managing food risk Agency identified 610 flood defences that needed work and it expected to complete 80% of these by the end of 2020. During our oral evidence session, the Agency said that only 262 (43%) have had their standard of protection fully restored; 189 (31%) have temporary fixes or contingency plans in place so that they will provide the necessary protection if needed. The Agency has concluded that the remaining 159 (26%) do not need any contingency arrangements.18 In written evidence provided after the session, the Agency provided an update on these figures. The repair programme now consists of 604 projects. Of these, 321 (53%) have had their standard of protection restored by permanent or temporary repairs, 140 (23%) have contingency plans in place and, for the remaining 143 (24%), the Agency does consider there to be a need for contingency plans. The Agency said that it has prioritised the repair of assets that pose the most significant risk to lives and livelihoods.19 National flood risk indicators